Page 44 of Naughty Santa

“Oh, I’m…” Paris waved her hand in front of her face. She suddenly felt hot. But not like she was going to throw up. More like she was going to cry. But in a good way. She needed to find Joe, needed to tell him. She also needed to ask him if it was okay if she stayed.

Oh…crap.

Paris was going to stay and that was not part of their plan. They’d talked about this being just sex for sex while she was here. Short term. Nothing serious.

Now she was just suddenly going to stay?

She knew that it would seem out of the blue to him too. Who would have guessed that she’d fall madly in love with snow and stuffed reindeer and country music and candy canes?

Okay, loving candy canes wasn’t that hard to believe. They were awesome. As just candy canes. But now she knew how they could be used during hot sex with a big, bearded guy whose heart was even bigger than his cock—and that was saying something.

Yeah, Paris wasn’t worried about the cold. She would have Joe.

Maybe.

Please, God.

She turned and looked around. There were a few people still lingering in the store after the party. Surely Joe was one of them. He’d be here waiting to help her clean up. She’d come to know him well enough to know he was the guy who stuck around to help. In fact, she half expected him to be here already, filling a trash bag with the ripped wrapping paper, the red and green napkins, and half-eaten cookies.

But she didn’t see him. He was big so that was weird, but he had to be here somewhere. Paris had noticed him come back in after changing out of his Santa suit but just as he’d headed for Jaden, Frank and Todd had caught up with her.

“Paris?”

She swung back to Todd and Frank. “I’m sorry.”

“Is everything alright?” Todd asked.

Paris nodded. “Everything is good. Everything is really, really good. I need to go.”

“Go? We need to head out tonight. We’re expected back in Indianapolis tomorrow morning,” Todd protested. “Is there somewhere we can go to get everything signed?”

“No. I’m sorry. I’m not selling.” That sounded great out loud. It felt great to say it.

“Excuse me?” Todd asked, frowning.

“I’m not selling,” she repeated.

“We came all this way,” Todd said.

Paris lifted a shoulder. Frank Winters was a very nice man, but she wasn’t as fond of Todd. “I’m sorry, but you didn’t tell me you were coming.” Honestly, if he’d called and let her know they were interested, she might have come to this realization about the store, the town, and Joe, sooner.

“I’ve very recently made the decision to keep the store. To stay in North Pole.”

“But...I…we…” Todd spluttered.

Frank watched her thoughtfully. “Would more money make a difference?”

“No,” she answered honestly. Of course she needed money. Like every normal person. But she had also inherited Lydia’s house, and the cost of living in North Pole was nothing compared to L.A. Paris didn’t know what she would do with her store there. Maybe she could maintain her ownership and just have Janice manage it. No matter what, she would have a small income from the Holly Jolly, and she really wanted to make it work.

“What about if we offer you a job in another of our stores? Full benefits, large salary, your pick of location?” Frank was still watching her with a slight smile.

Paris shook her head. “No. I want to be here. In this store. Doing this.”

Frank nodded.

“This is outrageous!” Todd exclaimed. “You should have let us know that you’d changed your mind. You should have been in touch.”

“Todd,” Frank said mildly. We weren’t in touch either. It’s fine.”

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